Destiny's Call: History of Heroes part 1
by LoneGunGirl88
Summary: The lives of the Freedom Fighters are turned upside down when the wild chaos energy drags a young halfbreed anthro through time and space to Mobius. rating may change eventually.
1. Prologue

**History of Heroes**

: _Destiny Dark_

Heroes. That's what we're called. Then and now. It's funny, but I never really thought of us as heroes. But then, I guess you never really do if it's you. Heroes are people of stories, not ordinary people like yourself. But, whatever.

People still called us heroes, no matter what we said to the contrary. We were definitely nothing like these history stories make us out to be. We weren't always ready and eager to put our lives on the line for the sake of duty and honor. We just did what we had to do. I suppose it was fear that was our main motivator. Fear of what would happen if we _didn't_ act. Fear of what would happen to our world if we didn't make that stand. Hardly heroic in my opinion.

Sorry. But I'm going to have to burst most of your bubbles. I'm going to be faithfully accurate here. I'm going to tell this tale exactly as I remember it, and trust me, it's _nothing_ like these embroidered tales that you hear now.

It all happened so long ago now, so very long ago. No one remembers anymore. No one but me. And I don't remember these larger than life heroes. I remember frightened, headstrong children who took it into their own hands to defend their country, their families, their friends, because there was no one else who could. I remember families torn apart, lives destroyed, innocence shattered. I remember love, trust, and bravery. I remember ordinary people who refused to step aside and let evil take over. I remember my friends.

This is my legacy, and I pass it on to you. My name is Destiny Dark. And this, is a History of Heroes.

(opening from History of Heroes, by Destiny Dark)


	2. Strange Disappearance

**Well I just broke a promise I made to myself. 'I will not work on more than two stories at a time.' (sigh) This is my third. Oh well. Those dumb plot bunnies have been gnawing on my brain and taking over my mind. They wouldn't let me think for myself until I started this story, so all blame goes on those plot bunnies. Hope you enjoy this story.**

**Oh yeah. I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. But I wish I did...**

Destiny's Call: History of Heroes part 1 

Chapter 1: Strange Disappearance 

A father and his daughter walking through the park is a normal, everyday sight. Or at least, it should be. But not in the case of one father and his young daughter. The young girl was being met with fear, anger, and even some open aggression.

The world these two lived on consisted of anthros. There were anthros of all types; cats, dogs, birds, dragons, and many more besides. This world was full of the strange and unusual, but the girl was considered unusual even by their standards. She was a halfbreed.

Kim was a cross between a cat and a dragon. She had orange fur, a row of purple scales that ran down each leg, blue scaled ears, a purple tail with a row of red spikes, sided by two rows of smaller red spikes, and purple pinioned wings with blue inner membrane. The right side of her hair grew out brown, and the left side grew out purple. Kim was padding along quietly behind her father, a raccoon anthro, trying to ignore the hostile stares directed her way. This normal, everyday sight could never be normal for these two.

They came in time to a small clearing where a group of children were playing ball. Kim's father spotted a friend of his and walked over to talk to him while Kim walked over to an anthro that she recognized in the ball playing group, a young rabbit named Sally.

"Hi," Kim greeted. Sally looked over and smiled.

"Hi," she said back. Just then Sally's mother looked over and spotted them.

"Sally!" she snapped. "What did I tell you?" Sally's grin faded.

"Oh yeah," she said dully. "Mommy says I'm not allowed to play with you anymore." The rest of the ball players grouped around the two of them.

"We don't want you here anyway freak."

"Yea, go home halfbreed."

"Go play by yourself, where no one can see you."  
"You should go curl up and die."  
Kim turned a tearful face back to Sally. The young bunny looked sad and uncomfortable, but with her mom glaring at her and the other kids taunting she wasn't going to offer any comforting words.

Kim turned and walked away, fighting back tears. It was like this just about anywhere she went. It seemed to be her destiny to be hated and feared all her life. But fate had another plan in mind for her.

She was walking away across the clearing, the children's taunts ringing in her ears, when it started. It began as just a tiny white spec of light, but the light grew bigger. Kim walked right up to it without noticing. As soon as she reached it there was a mini explosion, and Kim was suddenly ringed by multicolored whirling lights, which were spinning to fast to pick out individual colors. Caught in the middle of this mayhem, Kim was too scarred to move. Slowly a small black dot form in the center of the spinning lights. It grew quickly, expanding outward until it was as big as Kim.

Kim could hear voices shouting. Not the voices of the anthros in the clearing though, other voices. Blurry shapes began to take form as her world faded. Panicked, Kim tried to flee, but the colored lights suddenly imploded, just as quickly as they had exploded outward a minute before. Kim was sucked into the blackness along with the lights, which disappeared into a single spec of white light, which slowly faded from the views of the stunned spectators in the clearing.

Kim was sucked along in blackness as cold as space. She couldn't see, couldn't feel, and when she opened her mouth and screamed she couldn't even hear the sound of her own voice. She was finally deposited on a grassy field much like the one she had just left, in front of another group of stunned onlookers, while a small white spec of light faded in the air above her. Ringed on the ground around her in a perfect circle were seven gems. They ranged in color; red, green, dark blue, light blue, violet, yellow, and silver. The onlookers resembled anthros but leaned more animal-like in appearance. They stared at Kim in complete shock until one of them finally broke the silence.

"What happened?" asked a young, female chipmunk.

A blue hedgehog slowly shook his head, eyes wide as he stared at the crumpled form on the ground. "I have no idea."

**Please read and review.**


	3. The Chaos Energy

**I'm back again! And I'm updating! Cheer for me! Or just applaud those damn little plot bunnies who won't leave me alone...**

**Disclaimer: It's so sad, but I don't own Sonic. I do however, own Kim. She is MINE! But if you want to write a story with her feel free to ask me. Oh who am I kidding.**

Chapter 2: The Chaos Energy 

Robotnik had seized control of the chaos emeralds. He had tried to use them as weapons to wipe out villages and cities, but their raw energy had been too much for him to handle, and he lost control of them. Which left Sonic and the newly formed Freedom Fighters where they were now. Trying desperately to control a wildly erratic energy that did NOT want to be controlled, and seemed to have a mind of its own.

The seven emeralds were spinning in the air, so fast now that the individual colors could no longer be distinguished. They were just one big blur. The energy suddenly peaked again, and the emeralds imploded to form a small spec of light. The group stared at it for one horrified moment, then without warning the energy exploded outwards again and a form materialized in the center, then crumpled to the ground. The emerald's energy died suddenly, as if it had never been, and they fell to the ground, forming a perfect circle around the crumpled form in the center. The group stood in stunned silence for several minutes, until Sally finally broke it.

"What happened?" she asked in a disbelieving whisper.

Sonic shook his head. "I have no idea," he said, his voice expressing as much disbelief as Sally's.

"What iz eet?" came from Antoine.

"Her." They all turned to stare in surprise at Knuckles, who was carefully examining the creature on the ground. "It's a her," he repeated.

"Well what _iz_ she?" Antoine repeated. No one answered him. No one knew. The girl began to stir then, moaning quietly and shifting her weight. With a quiet sigh her eyes fluttered open she sat up, then began to take in her surroundings.

"Daddy?" she whispered, her face drawn in confusion. Then she called again in a more panicked voice. "Daddy!" Her terrified tone made most of the group wince, and Sally rushed into the circle of gems to comfort the frightened girl.

"Who are you?" Sonic was glad that Antoine had refined his earlier question. He had been afraid that Antoine had been going to ask "_What_ are you?"

"My name is Kim," the girl whispered. She was trembling with shock and fright, so Sally draped a comforting arm across her shoulders.

"How old are you? Where are you from?" Sonic asked, also stepping into the circle and dropping to one knee in front of Kim.

"I'm eleven," Kim said, starting to calm down a little. "I'm from America." She looked around again. "Where am I now?"

"Kingdom Acorn on the planet Mobius." Sonic had a sneaking suspicion that the girl wasn't even from this world. He was proved correct.

"I'm not on Earth anymore?"

Sonic shook his head. He had never heard of 'Earth' before.

"Kim began to shake again. "I want to go home," she whispered.

Sonic didn't know how to respond. He didn't know how she had gotten here in the first lace, much less the way to send her back. This fact seemed to be sinking home with Kim. Her lip trembled and she began to cry. She brought her knees up to her chest, wrapped her tail around her feet, ducked her head down, and wrapped her wings tightly around herself. The sounds of her muffled crying drifted out from underneath her wings.

"What do we do?" Sonic asked quietly as the rest of the group slowly came closer to the trio.

Sally shook her head, her arm still around Kim's shoulder. "I don't know," she said. "But I suppose we should take her back with us. She had no where to go."

"We should stay here tonight," Knuckles put in. He nodded at Kim. "Because I don't think she's up to going anywhere else today."

So without another word the Freedom Fighters began to set up camp. Night had fallen and the group had a good fire blazing when Kim finally raised her head again. Tear streaks were running wet trails down her cheeks. She sniffed and rubbed a hand across her eyes, wiping away the last of her tears. She unfolded from her huddled ball and wandered over to sit with the group by the fire. Sonic shifted over and she sat next to him.

"Hungry?" he asked. Kim nodded so Sonic held a plate out to her. "Like chili dogs?" he asked.

"I've never had them before," Kim said, accepting the offered plate. Sonic looked dumbfounded, as if the idea were unreal. Sally took one look at his face and burst out laughing.

"You should _see_ your face Sonic!" The others around the circle began to laugh too. "My name is Sally," Sally said to Kim when she finally managed to stop laughing.

"Sonic," said the blue hedgehog to Kim's right.

"My name's Miles. But you can call me Tails," said the little yellow fox to Kim's right. Turning to him Kim saw that he had two tails instead of one.

"Knuckles," said the red Echidna across the fire.

"Antoine."

Kim smiled tentatively. "How old are you?" she finally asked.

"I'm eleven," said Sonic. "So are Sally and Antoine. Tails there is eight, and Knuckles is twelve."

Kim blinked in surprise. "Where are your parents?" she asked. She was confused as to how kids like herself would be allowed out on their own, especially this late at night.

"My mom died when I was a baby and my dad's back at the castle." Sally's expression soured a bit as she said the last part.

"I never really knew my mom," Knuckles said. "And my dad disappeared over two years ago."

"My parents and my uncle were robotisized."

"Mi mama died years ago," Antoine said. "Mi papa," he cleared his throat. "Mi papa 'az been robotisized as well." It was Knuckles who noticed Kim's confused look.

"It means that they were turned into robots," he clarified. She looked mortified.

"You can _do_ that?" she asked, incredulous.

"Robotnik does it to any Mobian he captures," Sonic told her. "He turns them into his mindless slaves." Kin still looked mortified, but she shook it off and turned to Tails.

"What about your parents?" she asked him quietly, almost fearing the answer.

Tails stared absently into the fire for a moment before answering. "My dad disappeared right after I was born, my mother a while after that."

Kim turned her gaze to the fire. She hadn't had it easy where she came from, but she at least had parents who loved her. These were children like her, and they didn't even have that. Sally was the only one of the group with a parent, but from the way her face had soured when she mentioned him, she apparently didn't quite see eye-to-eye with him.

'_At least I usually get along with my parents_,' Kim thought, then froze. Her parents. Her family. She may never see them again. She felt a wave of despairing panic threaten to drown her but she refused to give in. At least her parents were still living and normal, no one else in the party could say that for a fact. She refused to give in to tears again.

Only one other of the party watched while Kim struggled to fight back her despair, the others were lost in their own thoughts. Knuckles watched her across the fire as she fought back despair, and won. He watched her sink into an exhausted heap as unconsciousness finally claimed her whirling mind. So much had happened to her in one day. Knuckles studied her sleeping features.

An innocent child, dragged from her home and unceremoniously dumped in a strange, war-strewn land. He knew that her child innocence would soon be shattered, it couldn't long survive in this war, but for the time being he envied her that innocence that he had never really had. But this was the life he had grown up in, was used to. She wasn't. Her lifestyle had been vastly different and she couldn't long survive here without help.

"I don't think that we should be trusting 'er," Antoine said suddenly. Knuckles realized that he and Antoine were the only ones awake anymore. He didn't bother to reply. If he were to fall asleep Antoine would likely explain his remark to the thin air around them.

"She could 'ave been sent by Robotneek," Antoine said. "She could be part of a plot to invade the kingdom."

Knuckles shook his head. He was surprised by his sudden desire to defend the girl. He felt like a protective older brother all of a sudden.

"She's not," Knuckles said to Antoine. "You saw what the rest of us did. The chaos energy brought her here, and Robotnik had nothing to do with it. Unless you count his triggering the chaos energy in the first place, but no one had any control over what it did, least of all her."

Antoine fidgeted. "But still-"

"Knuckles cut him off. "Antoine you know I'm right, so don't bother her." He yawned then. God but he was tired. "We can talk more tomorrow if you want. Night Ant."

Antoine muttered a goodnight as Knuckles followed the other's examples and gave in to the lure of sleep.

**Please read and review. I want to know how I'm doing. **


	4. Snapping Point

**Hey look! I'm updating! Everyone jump for joy!... Or, not.**

**Disclaimer: I own Kim! Of course, considering she's me...**

Chapter 3: Snapping Point 

The next day found the Freedom Fighters trouping back to Knothole, Kim in tow. She finally seemed to have gotten over the shock of being dragged through space (and for all they knew, time as well) to a whole other world. She was even starting to enjoy herself. That was until they were surprised by one of Robotnik's robots.

It was Kim who heard it first. She was walking at the head of the group next to Sally, chatting about her world and learning about the situation on the world in which she was now. They had been in the middle of a lively conversation when Kim suddenly stopped dead, ears twisting to the right. Her fur stood on end and she backed up a few steps, baring her teeth in a defensive manner.

"What is it?" asked Sally. She couldn't hear a thing.

"Something's coming," Kim whispered. They all strained their ears but they couldn't hear a thing. Finally when they were getting ready to give up and go the unmistakable sound of a tree crashing to the ground. Very close by. Hard on the sound a robot waded out of the trees. Kim shrieked as it fired a laser from it's arm, barely missing them.

The Freedom Fighters sprang into action, trying to take down the robot. It only seemed interested in Tails, however. Sonic was the first to realize this, as well as the first to realize why. Tails was carrying the bag containing the chaos emeralds.

Dodging a blast from the robot's laser, Sonic sped to Tail's side and snagged the bag of emeralds from him. In his hands the emeralds activated again, lighting in a flurry of power and becoming airborne. Sonic grabbed one and shot straight through the robot, which stood still for a moment before toppling backwards to take out a few trees behind it. The emeralds, meanwhile, glowed brighter for a second then exploded outward, each shooting off in a different direction. The only one left was the green one, which Sonic had kept safely in his grip. The glow faded from it, then died out altogether.

"How did that thing manage to find us?" Sally asked breathlessly.

Antoine was glaring accusingly at Kim, but Tails, who was examining the robot, spoke up before he could say anything.

"This tracking devise here," he said, indicating something on the robot's neck. "It's been programmed to track the chaos emeralds, and because all seven were together it was able to do that from a distance."

Kim stared in amazement at Tails and distinctly heard Knuckles mutter "Showoff," and Sonic mutter, "Dammed mechanical genius."

Then Kim's head snapped around again, to stare in the direction they had been traveling. The group immediately went on the defensive again. But the form that broke through the trees was not one of Robotnik's robots, however it was a form they were almost as displeased to see. Geoffrey St. John the skunk stepped out of the trees to greet them.

He stared around at them haughtily before announcing, "The King has sent me to accompany you back to the castle," he said regally. This produced a variety of reactions. Tails goggled, Sonic scowled, Sally sighed, and Knuckles rolled his eyes. Kim decided that she didn't like Geoffrey, he was too egotistical. Geoffrey's gaze fell on her then and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"And who are _you_? What is your business in Knothole?" he questioned sharply. Kim's only response was to be completely taken aback. Geoffrey snapped, "Are you deaf? I just asked you a question. Answer me!"

Kim narrowed her eyes. Her nerves were tightly strung as it was, and that robot attack had frayed them to the breaking point. She was _not_ in the mood to be treated like slime by someone with an ego the size of North America.

"I'm not allowed to talk to strangers," she said and sniffed condescendingly. And because her dad wasn't around she added, "And I don't talk to jerk-offs anyway."

Everyone burst out laughing at the completely dumbstruck expression on Geoffrey's face. Sonic gave Kim a thumbs-up behind Geoffrey's back. Sally, trying desperately to salvage the situation, took hold of Geoffrey's arm to steer his attention away from Kim.

"How did you find us?" she asked.

Geoffrey shrugged. "It wasn't that hard. That robot was making enough noise to wake the dead, so I just followed the sound." He nodded at Kim again. "So who is she anyway?"

The group sat down and began to fill Geoffrey in. At the end of the tale Geoffrey turned a glare on Kim, apparently harboring the same reservations about her that Antoine did.

"And how do we know she's not working for Robotnik?" he demanded.

'_Open mouth, insert foot_,' Sonic thought bemusedly. He could tell from Antoine's expression that he was thinking the same things Geoffrey was, and was triumphant that he had found an ally. Of course, this was Geoffrey they were talking about, so that wasn't exactly saying much.

"She could have led that robot here!" Geoffrey continued, talking about Kim as if she wasn't there.

"No, The robot was set to track the chaos emeralds. I don't think Robotnik is even aware that Kim exists," Tails interrupted logically.

Geoffrey simmered. He hated being proved wrong, and was still pissed at Kim for her comment earlier. "Little freak anyway," he muttered angrily.

That did it. Kim's control finally snapped. Before anyone could reprimand Geoffrey Kim leapt forward with a shriek of rage and slapped him across the face, claws extended. Geoffrey fell sideways and crashed into the dirt, blood blossoming spectacularly on his cheek from cuts that appeared to go bone deep. Everyone stared at Kim in shock, surprised at the violent outburst from the mild girl.

"Don't you _ever_ call me that! Don't you _dare_!" she shrieked at Geoffrey in a hysterical voice. "People _always_ call me that! I'M NOT! I'm not a freak! I'm NOT!" Tears were splashing down her face. "I'm not," she whispered, lowering her hand, which was still raised.

It was Knuckles who got over his shock first and stood and gathered the distraught girl to him to give her a shoulder to cry on. He then turned a death glare on Geoffrey, who was still lying on the ground with a hand on his cheek, which continued to bleed freely. Everyone else glared at him too, even Antoine stared at him in shock. He didn't trust the girl true, but that comment had been completely unnecessary.

"That remark was uncalled for, Geoffrey," Sally hissed after a while, when she seemed to have gotten her anger under control. "I had _better_ hear an apology from you."

"Don't bother." Everyone turned to stare at the now sniffling Kim, still held protectively by Knuckles, who glared at them and dared them to make a comment. "If you force him to apologize he won't mean it, and he'll just resent me for it. So what good is it?" Kim reasoned. Sally shrugged, and shot another glare at Geoffrey.

"We should get moving," she finally said. Everyone stood up and followed her. No one assisted Geoffrey. He pushed himself to his feet, cheek saturated with blood that was now seeping to his shoulder and chest as well. He eyed the downcast Kim as she passed him with wary respect. He definitely did _not_ want to be on the wrong side of her claws again.

**Please review. I have NO reviewers! It's so sad.**


	5. Angel Island

Yay! I have reviewers! I'm really sorry about the whole non-reviewer thing for the person who did review. I had typed this chapter out a few days before I actually posted it and hadn't checked my reviews again before I did, so I didn't think to change that. Sorry.

**Disclaimer: Much as I like to fantasize, I don't own any of the Sonic characters. (sniffle) **

Chapter 4: Angel Island

"Isn't that plane finished yet fox?"

"I told you it'll be ready by tomorrow Knuckles! Now leave me alone and let me work or it won't be ready!"

Sonic and Kim stood on the sidelines as Knuckles and Tails bickered. It had been a week since Kim had arrived. Surprisingly, it hadn't been that hard to get people to accept her. The king had needed some serious convincing however, especially after catching a glance of Geoffrey's bloodied face. The skunk had needed a bunch of stitches and was now purposefully going out of his way to avoid Kim. Sonic also suspected that he was trying to badmouth her on the sly.

Kim was staying with Sonic and Tails, as was, grudgingly, Knuckles, who was impatient to get back home, which was why he was pestering Tails to finish fixing the Tornado.

"Knuckles! Leave me _alone_!" Tails screeched, finally snapping and hurling a wrench at the surprised echidna. Knuckles stomped back over to Kim and Sonic, rubbing his head, while the two on the sidelines cracked up. Knuckles scowled at Sonic and turned a mock-glare on his adopted 'little sister.' Everyone had been surprised by the brotherly affection that the usually stoic Knuckles showed for the young anthro. He had taken the young girl under his wing, fiercely patronizing anyone who treated her different. Kim had quite warmed up to her new 'older brother.'

"I can come tomorrow can't I?" Kim asked Knuckles.

"There is room in the plane for Kim, right Tails?" Knuckles asked. Tails glanced at him thoughtfully.

"I can build in a third seat later on, but for now I can jury-rig a harness for her. As long as Sonic doesn't mind wind surfing, that is."

Sonic snorted. "Do I ever do anything else?" he asked. Tails rolled his eyes and went back to working on the plane.

"Hey Knuckles?" Kim called, a little shyly.

"Yeah?"

"Can I, maybe, stay with you for a while? On Angel Island?" she asked hopefully. Sonic and Knuckles both glanced at her in surprise. "It's not that I don't like it here, I really do, but, people always stare at me, or whisper behind my back. You said that Angel Island is quiet, that the only others who live there are a few friends of yours. So maybe for a while, it'll be more peaceful, you know?"

Sonic thought she made sense. People _did_ stare and talk, not without reason, they'd never seen anything quite like her but it was making Kim uncomfortable. Some quiet time on Angel Island would give her time to adjust to her new world. Knuckles apparently thought the same.

"Of course you stay a while. I might just enjoy some company in fact." He glared at Sonic, who was smirking. "Company that knows when to keep its big mouth _shut_!" he growled.

"Kim looked confusedly between the simmering Knuckles and the struggling-not-to-laugh Sonic.

"Don't even _try_ to figure them out," Tails advised her. "You'll just give yourself a headache."

Kim threw her head back, letting the wind play havoc with her hair as the plane zoomed on. She laughed, loving the freedom of the skies. She could fly on her own, but her wings weren't completely developed yet and couldn't bear her weight for great distances, or travel all that fast yet.

Sonic, as predicted, was wind surfing on top of the Tornado. Knuckles was in the passenger seat in front of the gleeful Kim, trying hard not to be ill. Having chilidogs just before they left had _definitely_ not been the best idea. He was going to murder Sonic as soon as they landed. If he could stand up, that was.

"Angel Island, dead ahead!" Tails called back to his passengers. Knuckles looked up in relief, glad to finally be back home. Kim peeked over in excitement.

"Oh, it's beautiful," she gushed. Knuckles heard her, just barely, and smiled, happy that she liked her first impression of his home island.

Within a half-hour they were safely landed, and Knuckles was trying both to throttle Sonic, and not lose his breakfast. Tails was giving the Tornado a cursory check over, and Kim was doing a flytrap imitation as she got her first close look at the Floating Island. She had never seen anyplace so beautiful!

Tails finally got sick of Knuckles and Sonic fighting and threw a rock at the two of them to get them to stop. They both looked up, first to glance at Tails, who was glaring at them, and then to see Kim, who was bubbling over with excitement.

"Oh, wow, I can't wait to explore! This place is so cool!" she exclaimed, having been deaf, blind, and dumb to the argument between echidna and hedgehog. Knuckles smiled indulgently, and Sonic tried to hide a fit of laughter at his expression.

"I'll show you around later," Knuckles said as Tails finished checking his plane. "Do you two want to stay the night?" Knuckles asked politely. Sonic seemed a little taken aback by the offer.

"We would, but we need to get back today. Who knows what'll happen if we're not there," he answered. Tails was fishing around for something, finally found it, and tossed it over to Kim, who caught it.

"Communication devise," Tails told her. "If you need anything, just give us a call."

Kim smiled. "Thank you. I'll do that. How long until you think you'll be back?" she asked.

"Couple weeks," Sonic answered. "We'll give you enough time to terrorize Knuckles, then we'll come get you." He grinned. "By that time things will probably have cooled down in Knothole." He walked over and gave the anthro girl a hug. "We'll see you before you know it okay?" He winked, then jumped in the passenger seat.

"See you soon Kim," Tails called. "Just call us if you need anything."

"Bye guys," Kim called, waving as Tails started the plane. She watched as they flew off, Tails doing a few fancy aerial maneuvers before straightening out the plane and heading home. When the Tornado was just a small spec Knuckles put a hand on Kim's arm to get her attention.

"We should get going now," he said. "I want to get to the temple before dark. Tomorrow I need to let the Chaotix know I'm back or I'll here hell from them."

"Who are the Chaotix?" Kim asked, following Knuckles as he made his way through the jungle.

"My friends," he answered. "There's Vector the crocodile, Mighty the Armadillo, Espio the chameleon, and Charmy the bee. They make quite a group. They can help show you around too." Kim nodded. They sounded like fun.

They walked for a while longer, Kim beginning to wonder just how big the island really was. They reached a lake after a while, and Kim let out a startled exclamation.

"You live in _paradise_," she exclaimed. "How deep is it?"

"It gets pretty deep in the center," Knuckles answered.

"I want to go _swimming_ tomorrow!" Kim exclaimed. She dipped her hands into the water, swirling them around to create ripples. After taking a quick drink she stood up again. They were walking for only fifteen more minutes when they finally reached the shrine, just as the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon. The sun's rays caught the master emerald and made it shine with green fire. Knuckles smiled fondly as Kim let out a breath behind him. He walked up to the emerald and ran a loving hand over its side. Kim had followed him up the platform and hesitantly also reached out to touch it. Knuckles blinked. It could have been a trick of the light, but he could have sworn that the jewel had reacted to Kim's touch, glowing softly from within for a moment as if in welcome. Kim didn't notice.

The sun faded completely from the sky, and the island was bathed in darkness. Knuckles closed his eyes as a light breeze brushed through his fur. It was good to be home.

**Another chapter done, and this one was rather pointless. Nothing happens. But it_ was_ an update. I'll update again real soon. The next chapter should be more exciting, and funny if I can do it. Yeah, funny. Okay, please read and review. **


	6. Meet the Chaotix

**Okay I know I haven't updated for a while, please don't kill me! My parents decided at the end of summer to rush us all over the place on last minute vacations. Oh, and I start school tomorrow. Junior Year. AARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! This is the hardest year of high school, and at my school it's the year from hell. So if I go for long periods of time without updating please go easy on me, I'm getting a TON of school work.**

**Disclaimer: Try as I may I do not yet own those furry little creatures known as Sonic and co. But I see nothing wrong with having them over as guests for an interminable period of time. **

Chapter 5: Meet the Chaotix

Kim woke slowly the next morning, the scent of dew greeting her nostrils. She stretched out, uncurling from the ball she had slept in, and took a look at the morning light-bathed Angel Island. She sighed and put her head down on her arms again, she didn't think she would ever get over how beautiful the sight was.

"Takes your breath away doesn't it?" Knuckles asked, coming to stand next to her.

"Sure does," said Kim, standing up. She stood up, stretching out again to get rid of the last stiffness that sleeping on the ground had brought.

"Breakfast?" Knux asked, handing over a plate of cooked fish he had caught earlier. Kim grinned, she loved fish. She polished off her breakfast quickly, Knuckles laughing quietly with how quickly she was eating.

"I take it you like fish," he chuckled. Kim just grinned.

After she finished Kim followed Knuckles back to the lake. As soon as they reached it Kim dove in, happily splashing around. She saw some fish darting through the water and tried unsuccessfully to catch them. She's stay still and let the fish get close, then she'd lash out for them, but the fish were always faster. Finally she gave up, swimming back for shore to be greeted by the laughing Knuckles.

"Just keep practicing," Knuckles said, ruffling her hair. After a while they headed back for the shrine. Kim flopped down in front of the master emerald, watching the sun's light dance patterns across it. She stared into the jewel's center, feeling a little unnerved, as if she was staring into the deep ocean with no knowledge of what lurked beneath the surface but feeling that there was _something_ there. Something, whether good or bad she didn't know, but it felt as if something watched her.

"You know, the color isn't going to change no matter how long you look at it. It's always going to be green."

Kim snapped her head away from the emerald, jumping some ten feet in the air and doing a weird pirouette to land facing whoever had spoken behind her. She sound herself staring at a red shelled armadillo, who was now holding his hands in front of him, a friendly grin on his face.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Relax a bit, I don't bite. Name's Mighty," he added, holding out a hand which Kim took gingerly. "Knux-man tells us you're new around here." Kim smiled shakily. That had to be the understatement of the century.

"Well, lets just say I'm new," she replied. "I'm Kim."

"Pleased to meet ya!" someone boomed from her right. Startled, Kim leapt up again, trying to flee sideways but wound up whacking into the master emerald. She furiously rubbed her head, which was starting to throb.

"You're scaring the girl Vec!" Mighty chastised the new arrival.

"Whoa, sorry 'bout that. I'll try ta keep things cool wit ya." Kim took a look at the speaker, he was a green crocodile with a pair of headphones perched on his head. His tail seemed to be twitching in time to the rhythm of whatever it was he was listening to, with or without his knowledge Kim had no idea. "Vector," the croc said, also shaking her hand. Kim decided she rather liked the chilled out croc. "Oh," Vector said, looking behind her. "Just so you perform another aerial feat and get another head injury, that's Espio the Chameleon behind you."

Kim turned, facing the emerald again. What was Vector talking about? There was no one there. Then before her disbelieving eyes the form of a purple chameleon appeared in front of her, having blended himself perfectly with the master emerald.

"Howdy," he greeted.

"And of course last but not least," Mighty said, pointing above her, "There's Charmy the Bee."

Kim turned again to come face to face with a young bee with a pair of goggles perched haphazardly on his head.

"Hiya!" Charmy greeted enthusiastically, transparent wings buzzing furiously to keep him aloft.

"Met the gang Kim?" Knux called. They all turned to greet Knux, who climbed the stairs quickly, his arms full of red fruit. "Formal intros," he announced. "Kim, the Chaotix, Chaotix, Kim." He dropped what he was carrying.

"Strawberries!" Kim cried out delightedly. Knuckles chuckled, gesturing for them all to dig in. Everyone sat in a loose circle, fingers soon stained red from the berry juice, laughing and joking with each other. Kim felt happy, glancing around with a grin. For the first time, she was fitting in. No stares, no hesitation, and best of all no taunting or cat calls. She was just accepted as part of the group.

They finished off the strawberries, happily licking the last of the juices from their fingers. Knux took another look around the group.

"Why don't you guys show Kim around the island?" he suggested. Kim was staggered by the speed with which the group dragged her off, leaving the laughing Knuckles behind.

They traveled for a while, giving Kim a whirlwind tour of the closest bit of the island. She had some fun racing Espio up and down the trees along the ways, the rest of the gang making bets as to who would win. Vector let her listen to his music at one point, and Kim found she liked it. It was mostly rock and roll, with a touch of metal thrown in here and there.

She tried flying with Charmy for a while, but couldn't stay in the air for longer than fifteen minutes at a time without needing a rest. Charmy urged her to practice while she was there and build up more stamina.

During the trip Kim explained how she had arrived in Mobius, from the morning in the park straight through to her arrival in Knothole Kingdom. Vector greeted her tale with a "that's whacked out," while the rest of the group performed flytrap imitations. They stood stunned when they heard the beginning, grinned at the Freedom Fighter's reactions, bristled at Geoffrey's outburst, and laughed when she told how she had slapped him.

They finally made it back to the temple just as the sun was setting, still laughing and joking like there was no tomorrow. Knuckles welcomed his 'little sister' back with a hug, ruffling her hair.

"Knux-man, this is quiet the girl we've got here," Vector announced, throwing an arm across Kim's shoulders. "Dis croc is down wit her." The group laughed, also expressing glee that she was there.

"We'll drop by again tomorrow," Mighty said, as the Chaotix prepared to leave. "We can show you the rest of the island."

"Great! I'll see you then!" Kim called after them, waving enthusiastically.

"I take it you had fun," Knuckles said dryly. He studied the young anthro, deciding that he and Sonic had been right. Away from so many people she was starting to loosen up, she wasn't so cautious and timid. He'd have to remember to thank the Chaotix for helping.

**Alright, it was short, sue me. But I wanted to update tonight. I'll update again by this weekend. In the meantime, please read and review. More reviews inspire me to update faster!**

**Tails: Hey Kim, can we let Sonic out of the house? He's running up the walls. Literally. **

**Me: As long as he doesn't break anything.**

**CRASH!**

**Me: Alright, let him out! **

**Amy: I don't think he'll come back in...**

**Me: Sure he will: I'll just lure him in with chili dogs!**

**Everyone: --**


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